Staff and wire report

North Carolina had the best defense in the conference statistically this season and was rewarded with four players -- Robert Quinn, Quan Sturdivant, Kendric Burney and Deunta Williams -- being named first-team All-ACC on Monday.

Duke, on the other hand, had the top passing game in the league and Blue Devils wide receiver Donovan Varner was singled out on the first team offense.

But a telling sign of how prolific Georgia Tech's offense was this season: Nearly half of its starters made the first team.

The No. 12 Yellow Jackets placed five offensive players, and six players overall, on the All-ACC team that announced Monday after a vote by 40 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association.

Among the Coastal Division champions on the first team were quarterback Josh Nesbitt, running back Jonathan Dwyer (the reigning ACC player of the year), receiver Demaryius Thomas, guard Cord Howard and center Sean Bedford.

N.C. State had two players make All-ACC -- tight end George Bryan on the first team and defensive end Willie Young on the second team.

In all, seven Tar Heels and four Blue Devils were named either first- or second-team all-conference, with UNC's Casey Barth and Duke's Will Snyderwine in a tie for second-team kicker.

UNC defensive lineman Marvin Austin and linebacker Bruce Carter were picked for the second team, while Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis and linebacker Vincent Rey also were selected for the second unit.

The Tar Heels' finished the regular season 8-4 and were anchored by a defense that gave up just 267.8 yards per game. UNC has not had four defensive players make first-team all-conference since 1997 when it had five, and it's the first time the Tar Heels have had a first-team all-conference defensive selection since 2002 (Dexter Reid).

Quinn, a sophomore defensive end, is No. 2 in the ACC with 11 sacks and is the first first-team All-ACC defensive end since Julius Peppers in 2001. Linebacker Sturdivant leads the Tar Heels with 75 tackles and is the first Tar Heel linebacker to earn first-team all-conference honors since Kivuusama Mays in 1997. Williams, a safety, is tied for second in the league with six interceptions, and Burney isn't far behind with five along with two returns for touchdowns.

Barth made 16 consecutive field goals during the season and kicked a game-winning field goal against Virginia Tech. Carter is tied for second on the team with 61 tackles, while Austin's four sacks is a tie for No. 2 on the team.

Varner, a sophomore, leads the ACC in pass receptions (65) and receptions per game (5.42) and is second in receiving yards (87.2 per game) and touchdown receptions (8). He finished the year with 1,047 receiving yards giving him the fifth-highest single season total in program history.

Varner also is Duke's first first-team all-league selection at wideout since Clarkston Hines (1987-89).

Lewis, a senior, ended his career with 48 school records including total offensive yards (9,987), passing yards (10,065), pass completions (877) and touchdown passes (67). He is one of two quarterbacks in ACC history to throw for more than 10,000 yards.

Rey, who also is a senior, led the Blue Devils and is fourth in the ACC with 98 tackles.

Snyderwine, a redshirt sophomore, was the top scorer for Duke this season with 75 points -- the highest single-season total for a Duke kicker since Doug Peterson scored 79 in 1987.

Georgia Tech, which will face Clemson in the ACC Championship game Saturday (8 p.m., ESPN) in Tampa, also had defensive end Derrick Morgan chosen to the first team. The Yellow Jackets.

Clemson had three players on the first team, including C.J. Spiller who made the first team as a specialist and the second team as a running back. Virginia Tech and Miami each had four players on the first team, while Boston College had two and Maryland one.